How Arturo Vidal will improve FC Bayern München

Munich – With the 2015/16 Bundesliga season just around the corner, we figured it prime time to take a closer look at some of the German top flight's most talked about summer signings.

Box-to-box midfielder

FC Bayern München may have won the Bundesliga title for the last three consecutive seasons, yet so far success on the European stage has eluded coach Pep Guardiola in his two years in the Bavarian capital. Being eliminated at the semi-final stage of last term’s UEFA Champions League cut deep, and prompted the strategist to search for reinforcements, namely Arturo Vidal.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was allowed to leave, but given that Bayern’s midfield already comprises Xabi Alonso, Thiago, Javi Martinez, Philipp Lahm, David Alaba, Mario Götze, Sebastian Rode and Thomas Müller, not to mention young hopefuls Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, Gianluca Gaudino and Joshua Kimmich, where will Vidal fit in? And what can he offer that others can’t?

The answer is surprisingly simple. The Chilean, who won the Copa America in his homeland this summer, is a box-to-box player and therefore unique in the Bayern squad. At 28 years old, Vidal is at his peak and is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the world game. Last season he won the domestic double in Italy, and played in the Champions League final, which Juventus lost to Barcelona. In his four years in Turin, Vidal scored 48 goals and provided 26 assists in 171 competitive games; an astonishing return for a player who is ostensibly a defensive midfielder.